The Villagers
by Daydreaming Heart
Summary: "Peculiar as they were, they were my friends...the closest thing I had to a family...and if my heart and mind were not fractured like they were, I would most certainly say that I loved them." (a series of short stories about Shanoa's relationship with the villagers of Wygol, moods vary from spiritual to cute to somber to humorous and anything in between)
1. The Greatest Hero (Nikolai)

_The Villagers: Chapter One  
_

 _The Greatest Hero (Villager of Focus: Father Nikolai)_

 _Genre: Friendship/Spiritual_

* * *

Every day, I try to grasp what is what. I ask many people about this sort of thing, and they all say the same thing.

" _Father Nikolai would know."_

I've had many a talk with him. He is a very kind, very gentle man. If I could describe what speaking with him is like in one word, I would say….refreshing. It is….refreshing to know someone like this….especially after fighting so many ravenous beasts and merciless apparitions. If I could feel, I would say I'd feel appreciation, yet he tells me he is merely doing the will of the Lord by being as merciful as he has.

I am sure that I have heard much of the Lord before the….the _incident_. Alas, I must ask again as every word, every image in the past has fled me.

What Nikolai teaches me would….no…..it _does_ fascinate me. How this whole world and all life on it came to be in a mere week….how He would fight so hard to have His children freed from oppression, how He would protect His faithful from certain death, how He Himself came to the world in the form of an ordinary man, how He healed the sick and burdened in miraculous ways, how He fed the starving through incredible means, how He even raised people from the dead, and in spite of His great deeds and kindness, was betrayed, abused, and murdered….and yet He saved mankind through those events and later came back to life, how He returned to the Heavens in such a way that the mental picture I had would have left me with a light, almost ticklish feeling on the inside had I my emotions still within me it was so majestic….how His friends and later their friends spread the story far and wide, how He changed the heart of a nation that once stood to oppose His people to being the most devout city of all, how His power still works wondrous feats to this day, and one day, be it soon or in the far distant future, He will eradicate all evils from the whole universe and restore it to harmony….

….No more monsters….no more Dracula….it sounds most ideal.

I still have no clue how to think about the entirety of what I have been told, yet something in my heart…. _resonates_ with this….

….I almost could have sworn I felt a brief sense of emotion….who knows?

Father Nikolai frequently asks me to attend Mass on Sundays, and while I cannot at the moment….I think….I think I most definitely will when my mission is complete….

Perhaps I may have a miracle happen to me and be restored to who I once was, before everything within was erased and the chase for the ultimate glyph began, but if not, starting over doesn't seem like a bad option, either.

Whatever He has planned for me.

* * *

 _A/N: Hi guys! Bet you didn't expect to see any Castlevania related stuff coming from me, eh? Well...I wouldn't blame you...I'm not a huge fan of it. Too much macabre and spooks, not enough color and cheer. Order of Ecclesia, though, is an exception for me. It's not as dark or creepy as the other games (muted colors and howling ghosts that reappear in mountains that are stacked with fear, sure, but it's a bit lessened and actually more focused on a sort of "Ohana" theme, adding a real sense of heart to it), the gameplay is super fun (honestly, other than the Giant Skeleton, Blackmore, and the last and bonus areas, I didn't find it that hard), and I really like the plot as well. And though many accuse Shanoa of being bland, cut her some slack, she kinda had her memories, even her knowledge of how to feel properly, ripped out of her by the ultimate glyph (FAZOODLE IT ALL, BARLOWE!). Another reason I liked OoE better than the other titles is because of the villagers. They were, for the most part, nice and people of good faith, and they added a bit more charm to the game, which is something I really like. And thus, I decided to write this little fic series right here! :)_

 _Just so you know, there's only 1 1/2 pairings in this drabble series. There's LauraXMarcel *dodges incoming rotten cabbages* Laura is always saying she's looking for a man (there's this one voice clip in Sound Mode where she says "Albus? That man is awful...but I like the way he looks!" that cracks me up so much...even if I'm 90% sure she pronounced Albus' name wrong XD) and Marcel said he was interested in her after you complete all of his sidequests, so, yeah. Oh, and then there's Abram having a slight implied crush on Shanoa (of course, she doesn't quite...get him...so it's definitely a one-sided thing), considering what he says after you complete his last sidequest._

 _I had a wonderful warm and fuzzy feeling inside me while writing this one (similar to the feeling Shanoa described she would have had if her emotions were still in tact), and that is due to the fact I am an outspoken Christian. God is just fantastic beyond words, and He has never let me down once. I don't think I can imagine life without serving and loving Him, and it's because of Him that I am able to write and draw and play video games and view his gorgeous world and simply live a comfortable life. All glory to God! :D  
(if you're not a Christian though, I don't judge. We were given free will, and I won't question your decisions on how you're using yours (besides, we're not supposed to do things like judge or hate))_

 _Also, Through the Cracks of Time as well as Water and Fire are far from cancelled (if anything, the former should get an update quite soon!), I'm just hitting a few roadblocks with them, and as for Chanson de Represailles, it's on hiatus for now, but I am far from abandoning it. I never thought writing an FFVIII AU set in the French Revolution would be so tricky to write, but oh well. I'll think of something in due time!_

 _Anyway, next up should be Jacob's drabble, something that's a mix of humorous and sentimental._


	2. The Enigma (Abram)

_The Villagers: Chapter Two  
_

 _The Enigma (Villager of Focus: Abram the Apothecary)_

 _Genre: Friendship/Humor(?) (I would say Romance, but it's quite one-sided)_

* * *

It was thought-provoking, it was bizarre, it was engrossing, it was-

"Hey!" a familiar voice chimes from a few inches beside my ear and a hand rests itself upon my shoulder, interrupting the flow of the words on paper as they drift through my eyes and into my brain. What a shame….this book seemed to draw my curiosity, if that's what it was. "Whatcha reading?"

I glance at Abram slowly after he greets me, closing the book and then looking at the cover.

"…War of the Worlds." Is my reply.

"Whoa, that book about men from space destroying the world? I heard a lot about it but, well, sounds a bit glum for my tastes." The herbalist confesses.

I tilt my head to the side, staring at the cover a bit longer. The very texture of the book's cover seems to engross me. The small furrows in the cloth and the looks of the print for some reason enthrall me. I had begun to notice that, as of late, I would often be transfixed by small details with many things like a small child. Considering my situation, perhaps that is what I am on the inside? Just a new soul discovering the little quirks of the world?

"I find it fascinating." I say bluntly.

"Well…everyone's a little different, I guess. I mean…different's nice." Abram mutters semi-cheerfully. I do think there is some truth in his words, and I turn back to him, wondering what he might say next. After a short pause, he looks at me, then to his hand on my shoulder still, and repeats the cycle once more. His casual grin turns into the strangest face and he swiftly pulls his hand back.

This man is a walking puzzle.

"So…uh…I was actually wondering if you could do me another favor…"

"I see…"

"Well…err…Eugen's been telling me his throat's been feeling pretty hoarse, so I wanna make something to fix that…now…" he began to dig through his pockets and his satchel. "…Where is that slip of paper? I _know_ I brought it with me. …For Pete's sake!"

"What paper?"

"I made a list of the herbs I need to make the thing! Sheesh, I'd get some from the woods myself if there weren't for those giant brain-sucking flying cyclops squids all over the place, but hey, that's what happens when you live in a monster-infested part of the country."

I say nothing. I knew what he was probably going to ask me, and I would do it without question. Father Nikolai told me to help these people, that it was the right thing to do, and to do the right thing is my purpose; it's what I've been trained my whole life to do.

"Okay, found it!"

I unfold the piece of paper he gave to me, and it is rather unexpectedly full of words that weren't plants used as remedies…but I opt to read it aloud, anyway. There wasn't much else to do.

" _To the one I admire. Moonlight radiates from thy pale and beauteous face, as the wind dances in thine hair I see the current of a deep and flowing river race. Thine movements are like the breeze, calming and graceful. Eyes and voice filled with the crisp shine of wintertime, cold yet delicate and gentle_."

"Aaaaaaaaaaa…."

" _Thine heart like that of a lion, and thy strength and noble aura equally so. If I could but be near thee, but once caress that perfect glow. Do I dare try to match your courage and gaze upon thy elegance? Do I dare reach for the hand of someone who emits such exquisite radiance?_ "

"Shoot!"

" _For thee, I would consider finding the path to the seemingly unreachable moon, because, in my point of view, my dear, you_ are _the moo-_ "

"I messed up, not _that_ one!"

"There's still a lot more."

"Wrong one! I'll just find the actual list, now, so please give it back!"

"Did you write this?"

"I said that was the wrong one!"

"There were a few spelling and grammatical errors, but it is still a fascinating-"

"Okay, enough of that!" he barks, swiping the writing from my hands, his expression beyond bizarre…at least in my opinion. Wasn't his face a different color…? He then gives me the proper parchment with the herbs he needed listed on it, practically shoves it into my grasp, actually, speaking hurriedly afterwards. "Here; _finally_ found the darn thing! See you when you get the stuff! Thanks in advance! Bye!"

...And,there he goes…

I know that it might just be because I am but fragmentary, but…I just do not understand him… Is he _always_ like this?

But that is something that can wait for later. I have another endeavor to complete in the meantime, and that is enough for me.

* * *

 _A/N: Hiya! ...Sorry about this out-of-order update (I said Jacob's chapter would be next, buuut...). This project is kind of going through a rough point, so, since I'm short on ideas, I wanted to at least get this chapter out since I was already mostly done with it. My apologies. ^_^;_

 _Abram is the king of smooth, lol. But yeah...for anyone confused right now, I jokingly ship Shanoa with Abram, or rather, I like the idea that he's into her (considering the dialogue he gives you throughout his sidequests), but considering how she is...yeah...sadly, the feelings are not reciprocated._

 _Also, I was originally going to put in a bit of text from the original "War of the Worlds" novel to give you the sense that Shan is immersed in the book, and at first, I assumed it was public domain. However, after doing a bit of research, I decided to edit that out and replace it with her opinions on the book, juuuust to be safe. (I always sorta imagined that Shanoa would be the reading type, hoping it would jog a memory or an emotion and help revert her back to a normal state of mind, and if not, well, she's a blank slate, so she's probably pretty curious, all things considering. However, 'tis only a headcanon)_

 _Again, I apologize for the lack of activity for this story, as it's apparently one of my more popular ones, second only to Ambiguity. However, I'm not as into this game as I used to be, as I find it a tad dark for my tastes. But still, I can at least do my best and hope that you'll enjoy what little I can provide for this humble little thing._

 _Have a great day, and may God bless! ^_^_


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